Christian Terrorism in North-East India - The NLFT

Date written : Aug 12, 2001Date modified: Jan 02, 2003

Lot of people are aware about the Islamic
Terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, but how many are aware about the Christian
Terrorism in the North-East India? With the support of Christian
Missionaries, terrorist organisations like NLFT and NSCN are spreading
terror in parts of North-East India to convert the whole of North-East states to
Christianity at gunpoint. NSCN has already succeeded in Nagaland to convert
masses to Christianity and asking "Nagaland for Christ" and
still fighting for a greater Nagaland called Nagalim, with the
adjoining districts of other Indian states. NLFT is in process of
having a repeat of NSCN in Tripura.

Jan 02 2003: The Centre's "healing touch" policy to make the NSCN(I-M) leadership feel at home on their return to India has been counterbalanced by the "tough blow" by Manipur. Manipur has declared that it would not hesitate to arrest the terrorist outfit's general secretary, Thuingaleng Muivah, if he visited the state. Both Nagaland and Assam have withdrawn the arrest warrants against Muivah and NSCN (I-M) chairman Isak Chisi Swu to facilitate their return to the country for the next round of peace talks with the Centre.
Comment: Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh has said that Muivah will be arrested if he tries to enter Manipur, further adding that they will not opt for a compromise on the issue under any circumstances. That's like it. A terrorist is a terrorist. One can not have a healing touch for terrorists. The NSCN(I-M) wants contiguous Naga-inhabited areas of the Northeast to be brought under one administrative set-up which we fear is the hidden agenda to form a Nagaland for Christ.Dec 31 2002: National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) have served extortion notices to hundreds of Hindu tribal villagers and threatened to kill them if they don't pay up soon. It is reported that the notes were served only to Hindu villagers with warnings of capital punishment to those who violated the diktat. Police have confirmed the extortion demands to Hindu villagers in Tripura. This has also been confirmed by IANS after telephonic talk with Aswathama Jamatia, head priest of Jamatia Hoda which is a influential tribal Hindu group. Tribal Hindu villagers in Tripura have vowed to fight back alleged extortion demands by a Christian terrorist group, and have formed vigilante groups to foil the NLFT's extortion drive in remote areas. Tribal Hindu groups say the NLFT has been converting people to Christianity at gunpoint.
With so many evidences of NLFT spreading terror, the Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, however, said his government does not have "hard evidence" of the Christian missionaries nexus with terrorist groups. The tribal people, who accounted for 95 percent of the Tripura population in the 1931 census, are now just 30 percent.

The National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) was formed in December 1989 under the leadership of Dhananjoy Reang, the former Vice-President of Tripura National Volunteers (TNV). Later, Nayanbasi Jamatia gained control over the organisation. But after the vertical split in NLFT in Feb 2001, Nayanbasi Jamatia too deserted
NLFT because of the long going religious differences and supremacy of Christian
Missionaries over NLFT. The socio-religious apex body of the Jamatias - Jamatia Hoda had been fighting
relentlessly against the NLFT for quite some time now. Hoda has identified the NLFT, a Baptist Tripuri-dominated outfit, a threat to the distinct ethnic identity of the Jamatias. The Jamatia Hoda chief, called "Okra" Bikram Bahadur Jamatia, asked all militants belonging to the community to leave the Baptist NLFT and join the mainstream. The Hoda volunteers, in some cases, physically prevented NLFT terrorists to enter their villages. The NLFT terrorists have warned the Jamatias of dire consequences if they did not convert to Christianity.

The NLFT was banned in April 1997 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, following its involvement in terrorist and secessionist activities.
It has set up a number of camps in neighbouring Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), in the Sylhet, Maulavi Bazar, Habiganj and Comilla areas. NLFT is the most active terrorist group in the
Indian State of Tripura.

In early October 2000, the Christian terrorists of NLFT had issued a diktat ordering the tribal Hindus to stay away from Durga Puja celebrations and warned that any tribal members seen taking part in the festival would be instantly killed. In it's official public statement, the NLFT said it wanted all tribals in Tripura to become Christians. They also stated that salvation for Tripura lies only in Christianity and would eliminate anyone who dared to come in the way of their plans to forcibly convert all of Tripura to Christianity.

In past, NLFT have attacked Ashrams and Temples run by the Tribal Hindus and forced the inmates to stop all Hindu rituals and practices at gunpoint. They often desecrate Hindu idols and
destroy photographs of the religious leaders revered by Tribal Hindus.
More than 20 ashrams, schools and orphanages in various parts of the state have been forcibly closed down by this Christian terrorist
organization.

Given the pattern of hate crimes perpetrated by Christian terrorists and their missionary counterparts in North-East India, there should hardly be any surprise at the outrage and anger of the
so-far peace-loving Hindu population. The aggressive, violent and forcible attack on their faith by the Christian forces is the primary reason for the retaliatory reactions. The Indian media, especially the English ones are reluctant to report both sides of the
coin. Whenever attacks on Christians are made it becomes a headline,
but when the same happens with Hindus the same media quietly ignores it.
The National and International media immediately questions about the Human
rights violation and start talking of Secularism.

Is Secularism to be followed by only Hindus
in India or Christians in Macedonia or Jews in Israel, just because they
are the majority in respective countries? What sort of Secularism is
this, where fanaticism is side-tracked or even ignored?